Listen

So there's this new show on MTV called "Skins" which seems to be stirring up a lot of controversy. I am sure there will be much backlash from the conservatives, but it sparked my interest because our focus is most likely "How can they show that?" instead of "Why is it like that?" The sad truth is we have a blind eye.

Let me start by saying I have not watched an episode yet, but I am speaking from articles I have read regarding the content. I think we would all like to believe that this content is only seen in television. But in reality, it is what is facing the generation of teenagers today. While I do not at all endorse this content, I think it does open our eyes to what is going on.

One of the cast spoke on the show and its content:

Sofia, 18, defends the show, saying, "It's what teens are doing. It's the way teenagers believe, I think, especially you know in certain situations when you come from home lives where your parents don't really support you or really listen to you. That's what most of these kids are going through."

(http://www.popeater.com/2011/01/21/sofia-black-delia-skins-naughty-but-nice-with-rob/)

I would like to not talk to my middle school students in the sixth grade about these issues of drugs, alcohol, and sex. I would like to think there is no way these kids would be dealing with this. But the fact is, I can't turn a blind eye and pretend it is not going on. While we can blame shows such as 'Skins' for exposing a young generation, we can also allow it to open our eyes to a generation that is crying out. In a world where facebook, texting, and media rules, a generation is crying out in pain.

We can't expect to tell them in church "Don't do this, don't do this." What are we giving them? They are searching for meaning, for affirmation. A church who looks at many and sees them as problems rather than those hurting. Rebelling because they are misunderstood. They don't want to be seen as potheads, the girl who sleeps around. They need to be loved, to be truly loved. They need someone to listen to them. To just take time to hear them, regardless of what they are doing. Someone they can confide in who won't look at them as a "project to be fixed."

I think of a student I knew whose perception of the church was to live by the ten commandments. If her friends were not living this way, her family constantly put her down and told her to give up this company. She had no voice. Where were those who were "quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry?" (James 1:19)

Do we take the time to listen to a generation that is hurting? Are we slow to speak, trying to get our word in? Are we slow to become angry if they don't get it right away?


My heart breaks for this generation. I am placed where I am because I had a problem with the church and how it was dealing and approaching youth. My plea is that God uses me to make a change, to restore the church to a point of listening, to be an ear and to be arms to hold a hurting generation. If I don't listen, I can't understand. If I am not slow to speak, it is me trying to fix someone, instead of God. If I am quick to become angry, I have no grace. I am not loving as I should be. Because I hear someone out does not mean I condone what they do. But scaring someone, forcing someone into change is not true change. Loving them and giving them something to strive for more than what they already have, that is true change.

My prayer for this year is that I would use opportunities such as 'Skins' to reach and understand a generation desperately in need of Christ. I pray I take the time to stop and listen, rather then jump and use my own (foolish, and ineffective) power in a weak attempt to change. Change comes through Christ, through love.

- Brummy